2004 Jishou Program
Judy writes:
arriving in Beijing I was NOT met as had been promised＃but a phone call indicated that they hadn't forgotten me and about an hour and a half later they arrived! In China lots and lots of things are ※hurry up and wait§. I was the first of the group so got to have dinner with the group of Chinese who were accompanying us on our little tour＃the wife of the president of the college; our personal contact with the Foreign Affairs Office officials from the two middle schools where the other American group will teach; a young teacher from one of those schools＃sharp, organized young Chinese woman on whom a lot seemed to be dumped; and assorted sons, nephews, nieces etc. whose presence seemed a perk for their parents. Dinner with them 每 and me 每 was a typical Chinese meal with about 15 different dishes on a huge lazy susan in the middle of the table which is turned at will. You take a morsel from each dish you choose. In front of you there is very small bowl (there is no plate, per se) which in some instances contains rice on which you place this tidbit, but in the fancier places rice is sometimes not served 每 as in there are enough other things to fill you up.
The food 每 since that was everyone's concern for me before I left. Lots and lots of wonderful vegetables＃all stir fried with spices ranging from simply garlic, sometimes ginger to a HUGE amount of red peppers (like chillies 每 also green) which characterize Hunan cuisine. The veggies include: spinach-like greens 每 one night they seemed like dandelion greens; wonderful string beans 每 sometimes conventional and sometimes you see them in the market and they are about 18§ long; lots of eggplant 每 very small and therefore quickly cooked, doesn't soak up too much oil; tomatoes 每 often served in a stir fry with kind of scrambled eggs 每 sounds weird but actually tastes quite good; and then for protein tofu in various forms mixed with greens, mushrooms, sometimes carrots. FISH 每 always the whole fish, usually poached and you (not so skillfully in my case) peel back the skin as you fish for a morsel with your chopsticks. Of course your are often directed to the tiny bit of meat in the head 每 the most delicious! MEAT, often disguised so that we don't know what it is＃sometimes chicken which is recognizable, often pork which tastes as expected, but then ※fat§ which is usually pork fat＃.I have had twice and enjoyed goat 每 a tad game like, thinly sliced＃think maybe tidbits of venison＃and one night something that was identified at my request as ※special§ meat which I think was some form of innard 每 didn't have seconds on that one! Dumplings are also featured with a variety of filling＃and sometimes there have been potatoes in very very thin shoelace like strips that are barely stir fried and are delicious.
So the lazy susan revolves and you continue to reach for a bit＃NEVER, EVER are you to pick up a piece that you have dropped and when finished the table cloth looks like＃well, it can be pretty messy. In sidewalk stalls where you can eat lunch (sitting on child-sized, rickety chairs or stools 每 fine for Chinese fannys, tight for westerners, and very low to the ground so those of us less agile 每 well＃), you just throw things on the ground 每 pieces of gristle, peanut shells, bones from your chicken feet! I guess my only complaint would be the sameness of preparation. Lunch and dinner are basically the same 每 less selection at lunch＃I've bought lovely tomatoes and brought them home for a kind of sandwich 每 not real bread but some yeast rolls that are slightly sweetened and great garlic or sesame oil almost makes up for the lack of mayonnaise.
Back to the main plot: slowly but surely the rest of the gang arrived and we enjoyed all the sites of Beijing ...Mao's tomb, Tiananmen Square , the Forbidden City , etc. We went to the Great Wall where the kids climbed to the ※top§ of the section＃I made it about half way and there I'm only half-a-heroine (you can buy tees which say ※I'm a hero, I climbed the Great Wall§. For a serious travelogue, see your own copy of Rough Guide or Lonely Planet. My overall impressions were, again, size＃the Forbidden City goes on and on and on, all courtrooms huge, anterooms huge, etc. The construction details, tiled roofs w/ pagoda style curves at the ends with wonderful gargoyle-like animals/serpents/creatures were particularly interesting; and I loved all the hand painting/gilded work. It's hard to imagine that some of these technically date from 600-800 A.D. because they are in perfect repair 每 so you never ever get the idea of a ruin that would give you a sense of its antiquity. The Forbidden City is ※hidden§ behind the Tina men Gate (atop which you have all those images of Mao, etc) and entered from the square which is bounded by Mao's mausoleum, the Great Hall, etc＃ so the modern ※government§ seems to have nicely allowed the history to coexist with the ※real§ importance of the Peoples Republic . Before I left someone told me their ※image§ of China was of hordes of scurrying little people 每 and indeed everything was packed 每 but I think the correctness of this image comes simply from the juxtaposition of bodies next to these truly massive structures. Beijing will be a wonderful Olympic city for those who want an extended holiday 每 in 2008!
August 25 每 27 Beijing to Jishou via Xi'an , and the train ride to Xi'an was (for me from my previous experience in Central Europe) incredibly pleasant.. .while we had "hard" beds, there were only four to a compartment (we were told this was because it was the fast train Beijing to Xi'an) and by now we were all pretty well acquainted and had established a pleasant rapport (as Americans do so easily). Linen clean, bathrooms not-so-bad. This may have been due to the Chinese ＆style' which does indeed involve squatting 每 but the area of the floor for disposal was ceramic and frankly probably easier to keep clean than the ＆toilets' of more western public transportation. There is an unending supply of ※hot§ water -- ramen style noodles are the travel companion of all Chine s e. The carts that circulate through the carriages carry truly tasty food 每 lots of hot dumplings, etc. Xi'an was - well incredible is hardly enough of a description. The terracotta warriors are housed in the archaeological site (for those of you who measure things in football-fields probably eight total would describe this TOTALLY COVERED treasure). China is a land of HUGE things - extremes to the end.
Angie writes:
The Xi'an terra cotta soldiers - most still awaiting excavation - are now covered by a beautiful museum/workshop. The sheer numbers are incredible, but to see row upon row of life sized personalities protecting their emperor in his afterlife, well ya gotta respect that sense of purpose right? Whatever was the emperor thinking? Do you wake up one morning and say to yourself, "I'm going to copy my army in case I need them." Please nobody tell Bush about these 每 or Rumsfeld or Cheney or Ashcroft. The next stop was worthy of Disney - an imaginary tomb of the emperor Qin and all his concubines. He's the one responsible for all those thousands of terra cotta solders. There were a few "workers" buried in the halls of the tomb also, so the secret of his whereabouts wouldn't get out, and the great rivers of China were rendered in flowing mercury so that anyone disturbing the tomb will be poisoned....
We went to an ancient spa Hua Qing Chi. In good fengshue philosophy, this spot was planned because of the water at the base of a mountain. It is still lovely even though most of the hot springs have run dry. The empress who spent time here is represented by a fleshy European-looking babe who guards the 9-dragon pond. Next, the Longmen Shiku - Dragon Gate Grottoes - where thousands of cliffside niches hold Buddhas of all sizes. Unfortunately, the western disregard for this culture is evidenced here too. Just as in the Beijing park where they stole the large Buddhist shrines, here the earlier "tourists" chopped off the heads of the most convenient statues or took them away all together. In spite of that scarring however, this is an amazing tribute to the spirituality of this culture. A very restful place, the "gates" of the river Luo.
NEXT - don't ya just love tours? - we got on the bus heading for Shaolin Si. Two hours of beautiful mountain scenery, switchbacks and rocky roads, brought us to the monastery of Shaolin where at least some martial arts originated. Well, OK, the bus was late and the temple was closed, but we could get out for "pictures" and give the hawkers a chance at us. I felt for them actually - we were the first American tourists they had seen in ages. We continued down the road to the wonderful cemetery - pagodas representing tribute for how much each monk contributed to his community. Those who gave the most got the full treatment of a 7-layer pagoda. Others were more modest. The oldest was from about 1200 AD. The newest was for a still living 84-yr-old monk who had a handful of American students. His pagoda not only reached for the sky, but it was decorated with....are you sitting down?..... a plane, a train, a TV, a laptop and a camcorder chiseled in stone around his monument. He must have been - I mean he must be - one hip monk. According to tradition, 84 is a dangerous age (the other is 73) so I guess he is ready for whatever happens. Since we missed the temple, our guide did a quick arranging for a martial arts demo by local students. There is a large school there, more than one evidently, and so we watched boys from 6 to about 20 do wonderful kung fu, breaking metal rods, acrobatics - it really is marvelous stuff. ＃. Thanks Angie!
Then another overnight train 每 this time a total on the train of close to 15 hours, and arrival in Jishou. WHEW!
